1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to perpendicular magnetic recording media, such as disks for use in magnetic recording hard disk drives, and more particularly to media having an exchange-spring structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
Perpendicular magnetic recording, wherein the recorded bits are stored in the generally planar recording layer in a generally perpendicular or out-of-plane orientation (i.e., other than parallel to the surfaces of the disk substrate and the recording layer), is a promising path toward ultra-high recording densities in magnetic recording hard disk drives. A common type of perpendicular magnetic recording system is one that uses a “dual-layer” medium. This type of system is shown in FIG. 1 with a single write pole type of recording head. The dual-layer medium includes a perpendicular magnetic data recording layer (RL) on a “soft” or relatively low-coercivity magnetically permeable underlayer (SUL) formed on the substrate.
One type of material for the RL is a granular ferromagnetic cobalt alloy, such as a CoPtCr alloy, with a hexagonal-close-packed (hcp) crystalline structure having the c-axis oriented generally perpendicular or to the RL. The granular cobalt alloy RL should also have a well-isolated fine-grain structure to produce a high-coercivity media and to reduce intergranular exchange coupling, which is responsible for high intrinsic media noise. Enhancement of grain segregation in the cobalt alloy RL can be achieved by the addition of oxides, including oxides of Si, Ta, Ti, Nb, Cr, V, and B. These oxides tend to segregate to the grain boundaries, and together with the elements of the cobalt alloy form nonmagnetic intergranular material.
The SUL serves as a flux return path for the field from the write pole to the return pole of the recording head. In FIG. 1, the RL is illustrated with perpendicularly recorded or magnetized regions, with adjacent regions having opposite magnetization directions, as represented by the arrows. The magnetic transitions between adjacent oppositely-directed magnetized regions are detectable by the read element or head as the recorded bits.
FIG. 2 is a schematic of a cross-section of a prior art perpendicular magnetic recording disk showing the write field H acting on the recording layer RL. The disk also includes the hard disk substrate that provides a generally planar surface for the subsequently deposited layers. The generally planar layers formed on the surface of the substrate also include a seed or onset layer (OL) for growth of the SUL, an exchange break layer (EBL) to break the magnetic exchange coupling between the magnetically permeable films of the SUL and the RL and to facilitate epitaxial growth of the RL, and a protective overcoat (OC). As shown in FIG. 2, the RL is located inside the gap of the “apparent” recording head (ARH), which allows for significantly higher write fields compared to longitudinal or in-plane recording. The ARH comprises the write pole (FIG. 1) which is the real write head (RWH) above the disk, and a secondary write pole (SWP) beneath the RL. The SWP is facilitated by the SUL, which is decoupled from the RL by the EBL and produces a magnetic mirror image of the RWH during the write process. This effectively brings the RL into the gap of the ARH and allows for a large write field H inside the RL. However, this geometry also results in the write field H inside the RL being oriented nearly normal to the surface of the substrate and the surface of the RL, i.e., along the perpendicular easy axis of the RL grains, as shown by typical grain 1 with easy axis 2. The nearly parallel alignment of the write field H and the RL easy axis has the disadvantage that relatively high write fields are necessary to reverse the magnetization because minimal torque is exerted onto the grain magnetization. Also, a write-field/easy-axis alignment increases the magnetization reversal time of the RL grains, as described by M. Benakli et al., IEEE Trans. MAG 37, 1564 (2001).
The use of a trailing shield to the write pole has been proposed to tilt the write field relative to the media anisotropy axis to make magnetization reversal in the RL easier. The trailing shield also has the advantage of an improved write field gradient needed to obtain high density recording. However, the use of a trailing shield comes at the expense of a reduction in magnitude of the effective write field that can be realized.
To also address the problem of write-field/easy-axis alignment, “tilted” media have been theoretically proposed, as described by K.-Z. Gao et al., IEEE Trans. MAG 39, 704 (2003), in which the magnetic easy axis of the RL is tilted at an angle of about 45 degrees with respect to the surface normal, so that magnetization reversal can be accomplished with a lower write field and without an increase in the reversal time. While there is no known fabrication process to make high-quality recording media with a tilted easy axis, there have been proposals to achieve a magnetic behavior that emulates tilted media using a media structure compatible with conventional media fabrication techniques. In one technique, the perpendicular recording medium is a composite medium of two ferromagnetically exchange-coupled magnetic layers with substantially different anisotropy fields (Hk). (The anisotropy field Hk of a ferromagnetic layer with uniaxial magnetic anisotropy Ku is the magnetic field that would need to be applied along the easy axis to switch the magnetization direction.) Magnetic simulation of this composite medium shows that in the presence of a uniform write field H the magnetization of the lower-Hk layer will rotate first and assist in the reversal of the magnetization of the higher-Hk layer. This behavior, sometimes called the “exchange-spring” behavior, and various types of composite media are described by R. H. Victora et al., “Composite Media for Perpendicular Magnetic Recording”, IEEE Trans MAG 41 (2), 537-542, February 2005; and J. P. Wang et al., “Composite media (dynamic tilted media) for magnetic recording”, Appl. Phys. Lett. 86 (14) Art. No. 142504, Apr. 4 2005.
Pending application Ser. No. 11/231,516, published as US2006/0177704A1 on Aug. 10, 2006 and assigned to the same assignee as this application, describes an exchange-spring perpendicular magnetic recording medium with a lower high-Hk magnetic layer (sometimes called the “media” layer) exchange-coupled across a coupling layer to an upper low-Hk magnetic layer (sometimes called the “exchange-spring” layer).
The recording performance of an exchange-spring medium is determined by the lateral and vertical exchange strength provided by the exchange-spring layer, the magnetic moment, the thickness of the layers, the anisotropy field of the exchange-spring layer, and the properties of the media layer. The exchange-spring layer serves several purposes. The exchange-spring effect reduces the write field needed to needed to switch the RL and also serves as a means of reducing the noise in the system by controlling lateral exchange. However, it is difficult to independently control these parameters to achieve the desired recording performance.
What is needed is an improved exchange-spring type of perpendicular magnetic recording medium that allows better control over the various parameters, like writability, noise performance, thermal stability and resolution, to achieve a medium with the desired recording performance.